With the B.A. in Liberal Studies you can go straight into the corporate world where business leaders are looking for employees and managers who can think critically and creatively, and who can write well. With the B.A. in Liberal Studies you can go into a wide range of private sector (including non-profit organizations) or public sector (government) careers.

The B.A. in Liberal Studies can help prepare you for a career in primary or secondary school teaching. As a foundation for graduate or professional school, the B.A. in Liberal Studies can prepare you to do well in your chosen field for just about any Ph.D., as well as for law school (J.D.), medical school (M.D.), or business school (M.B.A.). The best graduate and professional schools are interested in students with a liberal arts undergraduate background. The Liberal Studies major can set you apart, and set you up for taking control of your own educational and professional pursuits.

Career/Advancement

Graduates find entry into careers in business, government, social service and graduate school. A strength and attraction of the Liberal Studies Major are the many options it provides for students to organize a study program that is both personally interesting and professionally relevant. In the long run, as with other majors, Liberal Studies increases students’ ability to think and to communicate

clearly. Individuals use the Liberal Studies degree to improve their current employment standing. In addition to receiving significant and positive life changes as a result of a Liberal Studies degree, graduates see the opportunity of employment raises and/or promotion as tangible benefits to receiving the Liberal Studies degree.

Degree Outlook

People with degrees in liberal studies can find work in career areas that don't specify a particular academic path. Since undergraduate liberal studies education is largely dictated by your individual interests, you can often find work related to the elective courses you selected. Because of this degree's broad nature, specific salary data can be difficult to determine. Payscale.com lists salary info for those with a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies and breaks it down by career. The website's 2010 data notes that the median salary of those working for public school districts was roughly $46,000, while the corresponding figure for those working in the federal government was around $36,000.

Those with this degree working for hospitals and private companies had the highest reported median salaries, with the averages for jobs in both settings surpassing $50,000. The salaries of some of the other positions attainable with this degree range considerably. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median pay for reporters in 2009 was about $34,320 per year (www.bls.gov). Police officers earned an average of $53,000 in 2009, notes Indeed.com. Payscale.com points out that administrative assistants with a liberal studies degree earned $34,392-$43,747 in 2009.